This invention relates to infertility and more particularly to a system and a method of enhancing a woman""s chances of conceiving a child.
It is well known that some women have great difficulty in becoming pregnant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,416 issued Jun. 30, 1998 to Chehab reviews some of the concepts related to infertility. It states that while a variety of treatments have been proposed for lack of fertility, none have been entirely successful, and there remains a need for identifying improved and/or alternative therapies for enhancing fertility. Improved methods should be effective, have minimal side effects, be compatible with other treatments, and contribute to conception. It is well known that an infertile woman may more easily become pregnant after adopting a child. The fertility system is very complex. It involves the brain, which acts on the hypothalamus. This in turn acts on the pituitary, which releases gonadotropins that act on the gonads. Much of the process remains a mystery, but we can assume that the brain is at least a partial mediator in the process of conception.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method and system for treatment of infertility in women that has little or no side effects. It is another object of the invention that the method and system be compatible with other therapies such as the administration hormones.
The system of the invention comprises:
1) hypnosis of the patient with particular suggestions related to relaxation and the feelings of actually being pregnant;
2) acupressure or acupuncture at prescribed body sites with the use of conventional acupuncture needles, acupressure using blunt objects, concentrated light sources, electrical stimuli or small magnets; and
3) application of large magnets to prescribed body sites.
This system does not include the administration of any materials into the body. Consequently the chance of side effects is greatly diminished and there is no interaction with agents such as hormones that might be desirable to administer during the course of this treatment. Because many of these women are feeling the biological clock ticking away, a treatment that does not interfere with conventional drug administration has a greater chance of acceptance and success compared to therapy that requires suspension of conventional treatment that may delay treatment until menopause is reached.
In a first embodiment of the invention, the system may be practiced on a patient by a practitioner. In another embodiment of the invention, materials are supplied in kit form to be sent to the patient for at-home use by the patient herself. The kit may include audio recordings of the hypnotherapy; video recordings of the placement of the acupressure devices; acupressure devices such as small blunt sticks, electro-stimulators, small magnets, laser lights, and the like; printed instructions and charts of recommended acupressure sites; and large area magnets.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent when the detailed description is studied in conjunction with the drawings.